


cold

by sonderwalker



Series: Whumptober 2020 [8]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, Gen, Light Angst, Whump, Whumptober, Whumptober 2020, but i tagged it as both just to be sure, its up to you as a reader, this could be read either platonically or romantically
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:47:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27204749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sonderwalker/pseuds/sonderwalker
Summary: After escaping capture from Dooku, Anakin rushes out of the hangar of a separatist cruiser, only to be shot down moments later.Obi-Wan finds him just in time.for whumptober day 21.
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker
Series: Whumptober 2020 [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1957081
Comments: 10
Kudos: 109





	cold

**Author's Note:**

> this was longer than i expected it to be. i got carried away

Anakin gasped, clutching his side with his hand as he continued to press onward. He could hear the rhythmic marching of battle droids coming from around him. He knew that Count Dooku had sent as many as he could after him.

But he knew that if he moved fast enough, he could escape.

If he could move fast enough. Anakin curled his hands into fists, trying to stop them from shaking. That seemed to be one of the lasting effects of being electrocuted, especially by force lightening. He took a deep breath, trying to control his heartbeat. The hangar was just up ahead. He could make it. He had even managed to grab his lightsaber from one of the guards when it wasn’t looking, before cutting its head off.

He could make it. Walking slowly, creeping past droids as they walked in the other direction, Anakin bit his lip, trying to not to cry out when he moved the wrong way. Although almost any way was the wrong way when he was pretty sure he had several bruised, if not cracked ribs.

But he had to get out. Seeing an opening up ahead, Anakin made a break for it, his adrenaline pumping through his body, eliminating any pain that he was feeling at the moment.

The ship was so close.

But not close enough at the same time.

He rushed forwards, racing past the droids and the shots that they fired at him, his lightsaber out, deflecting shot after shot. Time seemed to slow down, and Anakin could hear the droids in the hangar shouting orders, trying to lock everything down.

But he was faster, leaping forwards, over several droids and running up the ramp of the ship ahead. The ramp closed as Anakin slid into the cockpit of the ship, begging the launch sequence, and steering the ship through the closing doors of the separatist’s cruiser.

He breathed a sigh of relief, and then doubled over in pain as his body reminded him of what it had just gone through. The ship shook and groaned around him, and Anakin reached back up, grabbing the yoke as blaster shots flew past him. Ahead, he could see a planet, a white mark that stood out against the darkness of space that surrounded him. The ship rocked as the droids landed another shot, and Anakin looked down at the dashboard, watching as the shield of the ship failed.

He pointed the ship towards the planet, knowing that one more good shot would be it for him.

There was another good shot, and Anakin lunched forward, screaming in pain as his torso ran into the yoke of the ship. His vision blurred and his ears rang, the beeping and warning signals all sounded so far away. He tried to brace himself against the impact, but his hands slid away from the console, his body sliding out of the seat onto the floor. The pain was too much. He knew that he had to get up, steer the ship away from the surface. But he couldn’t. He tried bracing his arms, pushing up from the ground, but they shook, and he fell back down. He closed his eyes.

The first thing that Anakin noticed was the cold. Followed by the pain. He blinked; his vision blurry as his eyes adjusted. He watched as his breath formed little clouds in front of his face and reached his hand up to touch something that was warm and wet on his head.

He pulled his hand away, looking at the dark liquid on the fingers of his gloves. He blinked again. He knew that was bad- but he couldn’t muster the energy to be alarmed. It all felt like it was happening so far away, and his arm felt heavier than normal as it dropped back down.

He closed his eyes again, bracing himself for the pain, and then rolled onto his side, pushing up so that he was on all fours. He bit his lip so hard that it bled, afraid to cry out, and have separatist droids overhear him.

But he could have sworn that the cold made everything hurt more. He braced himself again, slowly standing up, hunched over as to not further agitate his ribs. Anakin looked at the ship’s console- and sighed, then swore as his ribs flared in pain. He walked up to it, looking over to see what was still salvageable. He was surprised to see that the ship was still running its life support- probably why he hadn’t frozen to death yet. He looked outside the viewport, and he could hardly tell the sky from the ground. It was all a white, frozen, and barren landscape. The snow whipped past the ship, and he could hear the howling of the wind as it passed them by.

He shivered. Even if life support were running, he didn’t know how much power the ship had left, and it could run out any minute. Anakin learned over the console, looking for the communications computer.

“Yes!” He exclaimed as he found it, a small cloud of moisture forming in front of his face. He got to work, removing the panel, and looking at the wiring. But even after being shocked several times by the wires, that still couldn’t chase away the cold in his hands- which was now so bad that they were numb, and he had trouble controlling them. His body continuously shook, making holding the small screwdriver he found even harder. But he kept working.

He would not freeze to death.

And then, the console lit up, a grainy hologram of Obi-Wan appeared in front of him.

“Anakin!” Obi-Wan exclaimed, his voice muffled by interference. Anakin smiled, his teeth chattering.

“Where are you? Are you alright?” Anakin blinked realizing that he didn’t know where he was at all.

“Anakin?” Obi-Wan called again, the holo fading in and out.

“Obi-Wan, I-“Anakin whispered, but then the holo went out, and Anakin swore, frantically looking over the ships computers.

It had run out of power. He ran a hand over his face, his eyes burning with tears, warming up his cheeks as they slid down his face. He hoped, that Obi-Wan would find him in time. That the fleet wasn’t too far away, and that he could hold out long enough until they found him.

He sank back down onto the floor of the ship, bracing his knees against his chest to conserve body heat. He tried to control his breathing, remembering all of the lessons that Obi-Wan taught him, but at the thought of Obi-Wan, all Anakin could think about was the temple and the warmth of the sun in the gardens and how warm their quarters were back home.

Home.

That was where he wanted to go.

But instead, he was stuck inside of this ship, waiting for help that might never come. He bit back a sob as more tears ran down his face. He knew that he had to stop crying- jedi are supposed to be in control of his emotions. And he was a Jedi. He knew that he needed to conserve his energy, but he couldn’t help it.

It wasn’t fair.

But the longer he sat there, the heavier his eyes came. He blinked several times, trying to keep them open, but the cold was dragging him down, and he was so tried. His ribs ached, his muscles were sore, and it was all just another reminder from his body about how he needed to rest.

So, he did. And he closed his eyes.

* * *

Obi-Wan had ordered all of their scouting ships out of the hangar as soon as possible. Thankfully, they were able to trace where Anakin’s signal had come from and rushed towards the coordinates as soon as they could.

He knew that the journey was going to take an hour, never mind landing on the planet and searching for Anakin. But he couldn’t help those nagging thoughts that questioned if he were going to make it in time. Especially when he felt Anakin’s consciousness slip through their bond. He gripped the handle on the gunship tighter, holding Anakin’s winter gear underneath his other arm.

“How much longer?” Obi-Wan asked, trying not to let his emotions seep into his voice.

“We should be approaching the site of the crash now, general.” The pilot responded. Obi-Wan nodded and set his jaw.

They would find Anakin in time.

The gunship landed next to a small separatist’s ship, that was now covered with a fine layer of snow. Obi-Wan quickly leapt out, rushing towards the side of the ship, pulling out his lightsaber and beginning to cut through the walls of the ship. Behind him, he could hear the medical team’s boots crunching in the snow. He kicked the metal down and stepped inside of the ship.

“Anakin?” He called out, hoping for a response. The blade lit up the area in front of him, and Obi-Wan could see the ice that was creeping up the walls of the ship. He turned to walk towards the cockpit, stepping over broken equipment and frozen liquids.

“Anakin!” Obi-Wan exclaimed, rushing forward. On the floor next to the seat, Obi-Wan say Anakin curled up on the floor, ice crystals forming in his hair. Next to him, he could see screws and wires scattered about next to the communications computer.

“Anakin,” Obi-Wan whispered, kneeling in front of him, cupping his face in his hands. But he didn’t move, and Obi-Wan quickly got to work, putting the winter gear on him.

“He’s too cold, and he isn’t responding.” Obi-Wan said as Kix got down next to him.

“We’ll have to move fast- Jesse just picked up an incoming snowstorm on the radar.” Kix said.

“Right.” Obi-Wan replied, brushing a lock of hair out of Anakin’s face.

“We won’t be able to fit a stretcher through these halls, we’ll have to carry him.” Kix said. Obi-Wan nodded, and bent down to pick Anakin up, his head lolling and his limbs limp in his embrace. They quickly went back out the way they came, Kix leading the way and flagging down the rest of the medical team as Obi-Wan appeared, holding Anakin in his arms. They gently took him and placed him on the stretcher. Obi-Wan stood frozen for a moment, his mind was running on autopilot, but now it had finally crashed, watching Anakin being taken away.

“General.” Rex said. Obi-Wan blinked. “We should get back on the ship.”

“Right.” He whispered; his voice being carried away by the wind.

* * *

Obi-Wan had seen Anakin sick before, but he still never ceased to be amazed at how a typically energetic person could end up sleeping for over half of the day, when he normally didn’t sleep enough at all. As he grabbed the mug of tea and made his way down the hallway of their quarters, the silence was strange.

“How are you feeling?” He asked as the door opened to Anakin’s quarters. Anakin looked over at him and shrugged, before turning to cough into his elbow, and then purse his lips at the pain.

“Not very good, I take it.” Obi-Wan said, sitting on the side of the bed. “Here.” He passed him the cup of tea.

“Thanks.” Anakin rasped, taking it with both hands, watching as the steam rose from the mug. But Obi-Wan didn’t miss the way Anakin’s hands trembled as he reached out and grabbed the mug.

“Are you cold?”

“No.” Anakin responded, look up to face him.

“Your hands were shaking.”

“It’s from the lightening.” Anakin replied while shrugging.

“Anakin, that was almost four days ago. Surely your body would have…” Obi-Wan trailed off, after seeing the look Anakin was giving him.

“How long does this last?” He whispered, shocked. Anakin shrugged.

“It depends. Sometimes, I don’t think it fully goes away.” He said as he raised the cup to his lips.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Obi-Wan asked.

“I didn’t want you to worry.” Anakin replied, turning away from Obi-Wan and looking out the window instead.

“Anakin.” Obi-Wan said, reaching out to grab his hand. It was cold.

“I’m always going to worry about you.” Anakin looked back at him; his eyes wide.

“You-“But he was cut off.

“You are worth it.” Obi-Wan said sternly. “I mean that.” He added on softly. Anakin blinked a few times, and Obi-Wan could tell that he was trying not to yawn.

“Why don’t you get some more rest?” He suggested offering to take the mug from Anakin. He placed it on the nightstand, their fingers brushing past each other when he took it.

“You’ll stay?” Anakin asked, his voice small as he sank down under the covers.

“Of course.” Obi-Wan said, swinging his legs around so that he could sit more comfortably. He ran a hand through Anakin’s hair.

“You’re still too warm.” But all Anakin did was hum in agreement, and then his breathing evened out

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!


End file.
